BegmanRhapsodyIIBegman Rhapsody"Who and what are you?" she says softly, her eyes only looking at Brieanne. "The only people I know who'd have such Pattern based sorcerous defenses are the descendants of Clarissa. And their students. If you were taking such lessons from my brother, or my Mother, or even Uncle Bleys, I'd know." "Would you? Is it so impossible to imagine there's something you don't know?" Brieanne's voice was bright, bubbling with laughter. "But you will admit that rules out me being Chaosian? Now I suppose we need hounds or else you'll forever think me somene else?" She teased them, but the look she gave William was almost hurt. "You are not a Chaosian." Shannon admits, reluctantly. William chuckles, "Don't take on so, darling. Look at it from their point of view. Being mysterious is great fun indeed, I've even been known to do it myself from time to time. But it can be worrisome to a nervous disposition. And a scholar like Shannon, she likes to be able to classify and understand." "And some of us just naturally defy that." She smirked and twirled. "But I am getting restless, so either we are off to your matters or I must continue on mine." "And you have not told us what that hunt is." Devaine says. "Why not tell us who or what you hunt. We might even join you. Guillaume was intending to go talk to a pawn of the Omphalos, but if you have fresher quarry..." Devaine looks behind her shoulder at the men with the guards. "The boys, Guillaume and I would be happy to help. And Shannon...?" Shannon nibbles her lip, regarding Brieanne quietly. She says nothing. William nods. "An excellent question. Do tell us, my dear. Who is the prey?" "A knave of the darkest sort who fancies himself a sorcerer king." She wrinkled her nose as if just saying the words was distasteful. "Sadly, the trail should have been bright and obvious from here... so either I was getting close and he noticed, or someone has played an exceptionally annoying prank. Either way, I shall have to spiral out to pick it back up or find a cozy spot to lay in wait. And I do so hate waiting." The lament seemed sincere, one hand back on her hip as she pursed her lips and thought her options over. "A pawn, you say?" She glanced at Devaine, and then to William. Devaine nods. Willaim nods thoughtfully. "There's dark sorcery afoot here, and we're looking to find more information on it. And there's a sorceror of some sort, some little ways away, whom we shall be looking to within a few days. Whether these are related to your 'sorcerer king,' I cannot say." He laughs. "Unless you care to tell us more about him?" "Mmmmm.... No." She decided. "Then I'd have to share, and while I might not mind sharing with you," she gestured casually to William, "I'd very much rather bring my quarry down alone." She flashed a coquettish smile. "But if you don't feel the same way, I'd be happy to lend a hand. It would give me something to chew on while I watch for a flicker of movement." She seemed a gleeful at the prospect, with a fierce gleam in her eyes. "If you cannot hunt the one you wish, then hunt the one at hand?" Devaine says to Brieanne. "Yes!" Brieanne turned to Devaine with a smile, twisting a lock of hair around her finger. "A reallocation of resources would be necessary if we are going to accept cousin Brieanne's help." Shannon says to William. "I'll still talk to the King and take a look at that throne. I don't think that either of those tasks would interest our cousin." Shannon says mildly. "Possibly not, but one never really knows..." Brieanne let her voice trail off, wandering the limits Shannon had enclosed in the silence spell. William nods. "And I think Shannon underestimates the danger of her mission, as well." He leans against the billiard table. His manner seems much more relaxed now. "So, dear coz, let me tell you what we are about, and you can decide if either holds any interest for you. Theses damnable Outsiders with their doors have infiltrated subtly here, a more insidious tactic than we have seen in the past. They have gained influence, though not control, over the Lord Mayor of this city. Shannon is going to examine the spells they have woven around him tonight, as well as seeking out any other magics here in his palace. The Lord Mayor and I have already talked, and he would prefer to trust to Amber than to these aliens. If we can break, or at least weaken, the spell they have on him, without immediate damage to him, then we can curtail their influence. Shannon and Devaine were to undertake this task, and Shannon thinks it a simple matter of research. I am concerned that there might be magical traps or alarms, and they might find themselves suddenly beset. If you were lurking, as you do so well, then you could turn the trap on them." William shrugs then, "The danger to that is that you risk a night of intense boredom if Shannon is right, and there turns out to be no danger." He grins at her. "We are enough alike that I know what a dreadful fate even a single evening of boredom can be." The roll of her eyes agreed with that last statement whole-heartedly. He rubs his hands together. "Now, as to my task, with my gallant comrades there," he gestures with his chin to the two men laughing with the castle guards. "The younger of the two local aristocrats that the Omphalos have suborned is not a bad sort. He's from merchant stock, his father ennobled for risky undertakings for the good of the realm, which the blooded nobles feared to risk. As is so often the case, born aristocrats sneer and refuse to let him play their reindeer games. So it is not surprising that he might be led astray by bad companions. I think the friendship of a Prince of Amber, and subtle comments about the nature of the allies he has made, may turn him to us. He becomes a possible source of information." William smiles again. "So that particular task this evening is more subtle diplomacy than anything else. I'm not sure you would enjoy that. Although, if you did wish to join me, I am certain that the seductive allure of a Princess of Amber would work even faster upon his loyalties." "As long as the boys keep their attentions away from the Princess." Devaine comments. "And let the mark have her full attention." "Oh... I know how to juggle boys..." Brieanne purred. "So," William concludes. "Those are the tasks for this evening. Either tomorrow or the day after we will be continuing our journey, and it will include an investigation, and I am almost certain the taking by force, of a mansion further up the river, which is being used by one of more Omphalos mages, for purposes unknown." His face hardens. "And eventually I want to see a punitive expedition find a way to the Omphalos' home. They need an ending." "That's the medium term goal." Shannon agrees. "Stop this nonsense decisively. But I am sure that our cousin has long since been thinking about that ever since the first couple of Doors popped up in Arden." Shannon says. She looks at Brieanne "Especially the Omphalos band that tried to immolate you, Hadrian and Bhangbadea." "Bhangbadea. That's who gave you lessons!" Shannon says with a clap of her hands. Brieanne favored Shannon with an amused smile, but chose not to confirm, or deny the speculation. "The influence they have on the Lord Mayor may be a simple matter of subverting the bond. Tie the incoming spell to a patsy of little import and keep him somewhere secure, and tie the now loose end to someone else. Once bound, he'll likely flail looking for a new bond, and quickly settle into whatever is offered." She ran her fingers along the edge of the billard table. "It's really not so hard, that last.. and if the first does not go as planned, well..." she shrugged. "Sometimes it's better not to over think things, pop the bubble and see what comes out." She tilted her head one way, and then another, thinking. "Neither should take very long... and it would make for a full night, which is a much more pleasant prospect." "The bonding is made more difficult in that they have tied it in to a healing spell," William explains. "The Lord Mayor is aged, and was beginning to lose his health. They have given him an enchanted throne, which restores his strength, but also addicts him to itself. The exact nature of that spell, and how we might be able to subvert it, is part of what Shannon will seek to discover tonight. Ideally, we would like to break the spell, without alerting them that we have done so, and find a new way to restore the Lord Mayor's strength and health, at least for the short term, to ensure his loyalty to us." He looks at Shannon, "I assume, oh puissant sorceress, that you would not mind having aid in this endeavour. Many minds make light sorcerous work, as they say." Brieanne shrugged, circling the table. "Replace the addiction with a stronger opiate." The look she flashed William was suggestive. "Depending on what you have to offer, it may not be as complicated as you think..." She stopped at the corner facing him. "But what, my dear, shall we do first? Your misled lordling, or your tethered Mayor?" "I wanted to take care of both of them at the same time," William answers. "Hence our decision to split our forces." He considers a moment, then says, "If you are willing, here is what I think would be the best disposition of our forces. Shannon and Devaine begin their magical research, while you go into hidden hunter mode and watch to see if their activities arouse anything. No one can hide as well as you, and I have yet to see any threat than can sneak up on you when you're on the alert. Meanwhile, we start our boys' night out, and I can lay the groundwork for turning their agent." He nods. "Yes, I think that best, if you came along with us on what was ostensibly a pub crawl then he would be on his guard, wondering why you were there. Instead, after the magical investigation is done, you can track us down." William smirks. "I can make sure we leave a great deal of talk behind us, we should not be hard to find. You find us, I express my amazement at finding you in this city, young Walton is introduced to one of the more untraditional of my cousins, and his doom is sealed." He raises an interrogative eyebrow. "How does that strike you?" The smile suggested that it suited her just fine. "Having our cousin waiting in the wings, first for Devaine and I, and then for you and the boys would seem to suit her abilities." Shannon says. "Mark that she did pass through the room to reach us, completely unnoticed by others. "Whether Princess Brieanne joins us first or after matters not at all to me, Guillaume." Devaine says. "I admit to frank curiosity as to her abilities and seeing them at work, especially since they seem so unexpected and extraordinary to Shannon." Shannon frowns briefly at Devaine and then turns to look at Brieanne. Brieanne answered with a low chuckle. "I'll lay in wait... but I'd like the man brought to us. I hate working when loose ends are floating about." She wrinkled her nose. "And I've no doubt you'll be easy to track. I'm rather good at that." She winked at William and then let her attention settle on Shannon. "Agreed" Shannon says, regarding Brieanne. "You can go into overwatch mode, and watch my back while Devaine and I go poking at the throne, and the Mayor. Once that part is done, you can relax by joining William and the boys in the city." "Relax, yes" Devaine says wryly. "If there is nothing else." Shannon says to William. "I'll dispel the silence spell, and we'll get things started?" "If we are settled on that, then," William says, "I need to be off before our patsy starts wondering where I am." He bows to the ladies, then pauses, giving them a chance for any last words before he departs. Brieanne gave a proper curtsey, embellished with a teasing smirk, and watched William leave. Backlinks |
